Indiana Basketball Recruit Ron Patterson Determined Ineligible

A day after it was revealed that UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad would miss out on the Bruins' trip to China later this month, Indiana recruit Ron Patterson was determined to be ineligible to attend IU.

His ineligibility is a matter of IU academic standards, and not one of Patterson being ineligible to play elsewhere, or to even potentially play at Indiana at a later point in time.

While the details are still emerging, USA Todayquoted Patterson’s former AAU coach as saying, "It was a close call as far as him getting into school." It was also reported that Patterson would most likely do a year of prep school or go to a different four-year program.

The Hoosier Scoop’s Dustin Dopirak reported that Patterson's high school grades and standardized test scores qualified the player academically, at least with faculty sponsorship.

However, Dopirak also pointed out that Patterson’s academic performance this summer resulted in the decision from an Indiana council of faculty advisors that he would not be admitted this year. A year of prep school could allow for Patterson to play for the Hoosiers at a later point in time.

The Indiana Student Dailyreported that Patterson's former AAU coach also mentioned that Patterson's ineligibility was not related to IU having an oversign of 14 players for 13 scholarship positions this season.

This seems to further confirm reports that Patterson, who had been able to enroll at Indiana this summer, did not end up meeting all the summer school standards which may have been ultimately required for his admission this year.

Indiana Coach Tom Crean released a statement today, in which he said, “We think very highly of Ron and will continue to work with him as allowed to help him reach his goals. He has the chance to do some special things for himself and his family and we will be supportive of whatever he chooses to do.”

Even without Patterson, the Hoosiers' program will almost certainly enter the upcoming season as the consensus No. 1 team in NCAA Division I basketball. In addition to Patterson, Indiana signed four other recruits this season: Rivals’ 5-star PG Kevin Ferrell, Rivals’ 4-star SF Jeremy Hollowell, Rivals’ 3-star C Peter Jurkin and Rivals’ 4-star PF Hanner Perea.

The Hoosiers will also be returning a number of talented players that took Indiana to the regional semifinals of the 2012 NCAA tournament before losing to Kentucky.

Both Indiana and UCLA will be playing in the Legends Classic in November of this year. The Hoosiers and the Bruins were both listed in ESPN's Joe Lunardi's bracketology on August 13 as predicted No. 1 seeds, along with Louisville and Kentucky, in the 2013 NCAA basketball tournament.

While it seems Patterson will not be playing with Indiana, at least for this season, it still remains to be seen whether the NCAA will ultimately determine UCLA recruit, Muhammad, eligible to play for the Bruins. Muhammad's situation is very different from Patterson's, in that it reportedly involves financial dealings with the player's family and friends. However, the NCAA investigation is still ongoing in those matters.

Following their return from China, the UCLA Bruins will open their 2012-13 season in the newly renovated Pauley Pavilion against Indiana State on November 9.

UPDATE: Several news sources have reported that Ron Patterson will attend Brewster Academy, a private prep school in New Hampshire, this coming year. For the Indystar.com's report of this update, click here.

While unable able to talk about the case, Sporting News quoted UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland on the Shabazz Muhammad investigation as saying, "The bottom line is I’m sad and disappointed for him that he’s not able to go on this trip. Yet we’re cooperating with everything we can with the NCAA and the ongoing investigation, as are he and his family. And we’re confident it’ll work out."